Air current conveyer



Feb. 23, 1932. .1. B. scHAUB AIR CURRENT CONVEYER Filed Oct. 17, 1928 l Patented Feb. 23, 1932 PATENT. OFFICE JAMES BENTON SCHAUB, F WILMET'IE, ILLINOIS AIR CURRENT CON VEYER Application med Dctober 17, 1928. Serial No. 313,102.

My invention relates to an arrangement of apparatus constituting a conveyer system, and used for transporting finely divided sol-v ids,` granular materials, and comminuted materials as Well as fluid or liquid substances, in a lateral direction or a vertical direction or a combination of lateral and vertical directions and uses tubular conduits as conducting members and utilizes air or gas having been 1o compressed greater than the pressure of the atmosphere as a conveying medium.

lt more particularly applies to conveyers used for elevatingr sand from a receptacle at approximately ground level to a receptacle i5 suiiiciently elevated to allow the sand to flow by gravity into the sandbox or dome of locomotives.

The object of my invention is to provide a means of automatically cutting 0H the supply of compressed air as soon as the materials in the conveyer system have been conveyed,

thereby saving the expense of constant attention from an attendant and saving the expense of dissipated compressed air due to its continued flow when no materials are being conveyed.

My invention will be fully understood upon reference to the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure 1 is a non scale and rather schematic view illustrating a conveyer system used for 'transporting dry sand from an elevation near the level of the track to an elevated storage sufficiently high to permit the sand to flow by gravity from the storage, through a spout into the sand dome on the top 'of a railway locomotive, in which the several features of my invention are embodied.

Figure 2 is a section view, to a somewhat larger scale, of the control valve which operates to open and close the compressed air supply line and is shown in combinationwith a three way cock which is used for operation.

Figure 3 is a part section view of a modification of the control valve which' operates to open and close the compressed air supply line and is shown in combination with a hand lever which is an alternate means of operation,

Referring to` Figure 1, 1 is a tubular conduit or conductor pipe leading from an air compressor or from an air storage reservoir v or from any other suitable source of air that is under greater pressure than that of the atmosphere, and which furnishes the means 5l of operation for the conveyer system. 2 is a continuation of the same conductor pipe after passing the pressure control valve 3, and connecting to the forwarding chamber 4. 5 is a tubular conduit or conductor pipe con- 60 necting forwarding chamber 4 with delivery chamber 6, and through which the material to be conveyed must pass. 7 is a three way valve or coclr so arranged in relationship to the pressure control valve 3 that the pressure 65 control valve 8 can be operated by means of air pressure variations through conductor pipes either 8 or 9. 10 is a funnel shaped spout by means of which the materials to be conveyed may be more readily placed into the forwarding chamber 4. 11 is a handle connecting the valve 12 which is used to close the opening under funnel 10 after the materials to be conveyed have been placed into the forwarding chamber 4. 13 is a small conductor 'l5 pipe connecting the compressed air supply line and the materials conductor line and is sometimes `used to assist the flow of the materials to be conveyed, a feature well understood by those versed in the art. 22 is a spout so l connecting the chamber 6, and through which the material may flow by gravity into the, dome of a locomotive located on railway track 23. I

By referringto Figure 2 is seen an en- B5 larged sectional view of the pressure control valve 3 and the three way cock 7 In valve 3 the valve disc 14 is biased to a closed position by means of a suitable coil spring 15 which surrounds the reciprocating stem 16 90 that connects valve disc 14 and diaphragm block 17. The valve disc 14 is forced into` open position by action of reciprocating stem 16 when suiicient air pressure is introduced through either conductor pipe 8 or conductor 95 pipe 9 to exert a pressure on diaphragm 18 to offset the pressure of coil spring 15. The air pressure will operate through either conductor pipe 8 or 9 depending upon the position of the plug 19 in the cock 7. 100

son thediaphragm. 18 and inturn compress Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a modification of a. portion of the pressure control valve 3. In this figure the conductor pipe 9 is connected to the pressure control valve 3 by a direct connection rather than through a three way cock as in Figures 1 and 2. A hand lever 2O pivoted on a Vpin 21 is provided as a means of operating` the valve disc 14 aga-inst the pressure of the coil spring 15.

The method of operation--whenthe threeway cock is used in combinationvisas follows After the material to be conveyed or ele-- vated has been placed into forwarding chamber. 4 through funnel spout 10-thevalve 12 is closed by Lmeans of handle 11. Then cock 7 in thefair pressure line 8 is setto permit` a pressure ofair from the supply line 1 to press the spring 15 and thereby open valve disc 14 which is normally in a closed position. Following this operation the compressed air passes from supply line linto line 2 and into forwarding chamber 4. Theair pressure in forwarding chamber 4 causes the material in this chamber to pass through the conductor pipe 5.and be deposited into the :receiving tank. The three way cock 7 is now set to 4fpermit the pressure in chamber 4 to pass` through conductor pipe 9 and operate against the diaphragm 18 and hold the valve disc 14 1 inopen position. As soon as the material previously placed in chamber 4 has been conveyed. the pressure in chamber 4 will decreasedue to the decrease in pressureresistance, this in turn permits a decrease in pres` sure on the diaphragm 18 and as a result the springl will cause the valve disc .14 to close I 'thereby stopping the flow of compressed air from the main supply through conductor pipe Al. Y

The method of operation when hand lever* is usedfis as follows After the'material to be conveyed. or-ele vated has been placed into the forwarding chamber 4 as ,previously described, and the valve 12 is closed, the hand lever 20 is operated against the pressure of spring 15 to cause valve Ydisc 14 to open and thereby'permit thek compressed air vto pass through Yconductor lines 1 and 2 and cause pressure in forward- 'ing chamber 4 and in turn cause the material in forwarding chamber 4 to pass through l conductor pipe 5 to the receiving tank 6.V TheV plained, as soonas the material inthe for.-v warding chamber 4-has-been conveyed the:

drop in pressure in the chamber will result in a drop in pressure on the diaphragm 18, by virtue of the connecting conductor pipe 9 and as a result the spring 15 willcause the valve disc 14 to close thereby stopping the flow of compressed air from the main supply through the conductor pipe 1.

Heretoforeit; has been pdiiicultv tocdeterymine definitely as to when the materials in the forwarding chamber have been all conveyedandthereforethe-compressed air was frequently permitted to flow much longer than was necessary. Also it has heretofore beennecessary .for the .operator or attendent to wait beside the conveyer andclose off the compressed air supply by hand thuspreventinghim fromzperforminglother duties.,` Also if 4for some reason'the operatori or attendant;

has hadoccasionto go away-fromfthefconf, veyer, the airhas :continued to flowfuntilgher.

returned 'thereby frequently causing Aconsid- Y erable waste in power. 'l

My invention wheninstalled inconnection a be automatically-shut"off as ,soon as thematerials to beconveyedhaveybeen conveyed, thereby causing a considerable saving-in ex-n with an air current conveyingsystem-asldewscribed, causes the compressed.V air supply tol pense yin the operation ,of conveyers ofthe class described. Y

It is evident xthe arrangement ofthe ,varii,- ous parts of my invention may be variedstof;

considerable. extent, both in individual detail and in group', as localconditions mayk re; quire without deviating from the ob] ect to be gained. Discharge of the materials may r be `made' to l open space direct or direct' .intok It :is l also evident: that different kinds .of valves from. 1. thoseT shown; and'l described may be used. withY the; same result, I therefore do not propose to limit f some utilizing .memben myinventionltoy the'fexact details Vand arrangementsas shown and describedff 1 am fully aware of the factfthat conveyV ing vsystems operatedl with compressed air as a -conveying medium are neither new nor novel.A 'I amalso fully aware of the fact:v that pressure controlyvalves and threejway cocks as shown,y and described herein are neither; new nor novel. Such features I do not claim'.

as my invention. y

I claim: s 1.. A system for. conveying i granularm materials comprising asource of compressed: 120

gas, a forwarding :chamber: havingj conduits for conducting the compressed gas andffor conducting the 'granular materials connected*` thereto,- means ,for discharge at delivery end of. conduit,:` and a pressure control valveinf' tercepting the compressedy gas conduit; said f valve having operating means responsive-to pressure variations within -a f chamber, Isaidl chamber `of said valve havinghconduits con'-A nectnig source of compressed gas-and 'cavrty of forwarding chamber through a common control point.

2. In a conveyer of the class described, a forwarding chamber having a discharge con- 5 duit and a compressed air supply conduit connected thereto, a valve in the air supply conduit having auxiliary chamber control, said chamber having conduit connection to forwarding chamber.

lo 3. In a conveyer of the class described, a

forwarding chamber having a discharge conduit and a compressed air supply conduit connected thereto, a valve in the air supply conduit having auxiliary chamber contro a 15 threewaycockand conduits connected thereto whereby the auxiliary chamber may be placed in communication with either theair supply or the forwarding chamber.

4. In a conveyer of the class described, a

2G forwarding chamber, conduits for compressed gas and for conveying materials connected thereto, a valve in the compressed gas conduit having auxiliary chamber control, and means for placing said auxiliary chamber in communication with gas supply or forwarding chamber.

5. In an air current conveyer, a forwarding chamber having conveyer conduit and compressed gas supply conduit connected thereto, a valve, having a spring and pressure chamber operating means, located in the compressed gas conduit, said valve having provision for operation against Jforce of said spring and having conduit connection between pressure chamber and forwarding chamber.

JAMES BENTON SCHAUB. 

